"The recent tragedies in the United States have deeply saddened us all at Standard & Poor's. On behalf of the Executive Committee of Standard & Poor's, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to all of the victims' families, especially to our clients and the financial industry we serve.
"To the best of our knowledge, no employee of Standard & Poor's was among the victims of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. Our key focus has been, and will continue to be, the safety and well being of Standard & Poor's employees throughout the world. Our offices worldwide and in the United States outside of New York City continue to operate normally. Our systems and data at our Lower Manhattan Headquarters at 55 Water Street are unimpaired, and we will resume operations there in accordance with instructions from government officials.
"Our economic, financial and debt analysts continue to assess the situation and we are convinced that this will not have a negative longstanding impact on global financial markets."